Cardano faces governance deadline and outlines Dijkstra upgrade roadmap

Cardano faces a critical governance deadline on September 1. The network must complete a vote to renew four of the seven seats on its Constitutional Committee. Failure to meet the required thresholds—67 percent approval from delegated representatives and 51 percent from stake pool operators—could reduce the committee to three members. This would fall below the minimum requirement of five members, potentially blocking protocol decisions and governance actions.

In tandem with these institutional challenges, the network has outlined its technical roadmap for the Dijkstra era upgrade. This two-phase rollout is planned for 2026 and 2027. The first phase, scheduled for Q4 2026, will introduce Ouroboros Linear Leios to increase network throughput via supplementary Endorser Blocks. The second phase, targeted for Q2 2027, will activate Ouroboros Peras. The upgrade also includes technical improvements such as Nested Transactions, updated transaction serialization, and changes to staking reward withdrawals.